难
nán · HSK 1
make difficulties
😣 sounds like 'nan' — a hard, dense flatbread to chew
难 (nán) means difficult or hard. Mnemonic: the pinyin 'nán' sounds like English 'naan' — chewy flatbread that is tough to bite through. Also: 难 pairs with 易 (yì, easy) as its opposite.
难 — 又 (right hand) + 隹 (short-tailed bird)
Originally written with 堇 (clay) plus 隹 (bird), 難 depicted a rare bird and was borrowed to mean 'difficult.' The modern simplified form replaces the left side with 又 (hand). The phonetic role of the original left component gave the reading nán.